The Layers of Your Brand

The Layers of Your Brand
Branding is a hot topic in marketing these days, but it's
defined in different ways and looked at from different
angles. There are many components that make up a brand, and
we call each component a Brand Layer.

Here are our definitions of some of the most important
Brand Layers:

Brand Foundation

The base from which all brand elements will be created and
measured against for accuracy. This layer consists of the
following elements:

- Brand Vision is your company's plan for itself-how your
company wants to appear to the world, and how your company
wants to grow and change in coming years.

- Brand Mission is what your company wants to create in the
world, through its products or services.

- Brand Values are those ideas that your company brand
stands for and that you believe in-and also what you don't
want to and won't do. These values help your potential
clients to decide whether you can help them, and they also
help you decide who you will help and what you can't offer
or deliver. Brand Values are largely an internal measure
against which you can process incoming jobs, but they will
also be communicated through all of your marketing
materials.

Brand Basics

These components of your brand form your business's "face"
to the public. Brand Basics shape and direct your
customers' views of your business. Telling your customers
how you want to be perceived is an essential piece of a
Brand Strategy for any small business, and the easiest way
for you to do this as a small business owner is through
your:

- Brand Identity, the suite of visual elements that are
used consistently in your marketing, including:

- Brand Names of your company and product or service lines

- Logo

- Visual Vocabulary

- Collateral system/stationery set (business card,
letterhead, envelope, and so on)

- Marketing materials (brochure, postcard, flyer, and so on)

- Website

- Brand Content, the way you write and talk about your
brand, including your:

- Marketing Copy

- Tagline

- 30-second Pitch or Elevator Speech

- Brand Marketing that integrates both visuals and text
about your brand, and that gets your message out to your
audience. This is made up of your:

- Advertising

- Trade shows

- Public Relations

- All other outreach/marketing programs

- Brand Offerings, the products or services that you
present, along with the quality, warranties, and value that
you include with your products and services.

- Brand Experience, the process of working with you as seen
from the clients' perspective. But in order to create a
positive experience, you have to have a strong foundation
of systems, procedures, and processes built in to your
business-this is a basic level of professionalism that's
expected of every business. Things that factor in here
include:

- Returning calls

- Availability

- Turnaround time

- Professional interaction and communication

- Process

These Brand Basics can also help to shape your Brand
Personality, which is the persona that your business
projects to the world. This is defined through the way that
your brand expresses itself-the characteristics that give
your business a life of its own, outside of your own
personality.

Competitor Comparison

These components of your brand speak about your business's
relation to the competition:

- Brand Positioning is basically how your brand compares
with that of the competition. There are probably many
businesses that provide the services or products that you
provide: Brand Positioning determines where your business
falls in the continuum of businesses in your field.

- Brand Differentiation is another, more specific piece of
your Brand Positioning. Your Differentiators are those
things that make your business stand out from your
competition-the things that you do or offer that are unlike
anything your competition offers.

You can control these Competitor Comparison factors through
careful market research, market monitoring, and your
definition of both your Brand Positioning and Brand
Differentiation.

Internal Measures

These components of your brand are defined largely through
your business's actions:

- Brand Environment is the atmosphere at and within your
company.

- Brand Promise is the underlying guarantee or benefits
that you offer as part of all of your services. These
promises can be of quality, service, greatness,
affordability, or speed of delivery; regardless, every
business presents a Brand Promise to the public, promising
what the experience of doing business with them will be
like or what benefits the consumer/client will get from
doing business with that company. While your Brand Promise
is often initially shaped by promises made in your external
communications, it must be fully realized through the
internal execution of your services.

- Brand Values, which are an important part of your Brand
Foundation, are also helpful in deciding

External Measures

These components of your brand are defined by the public's
perception:

- Brand Awareness is the level of public awareness of your
brand-who knows who you are and what you do. This is
influenced by the strength and effective distribution of
your Brand Basics, as well as by word-of-mouth.

- Brand Gap is the difference between your Brand
Positioning and Differentiation and how your consumers and
clients actually view these things.

So, what is a Brand?

Your brand is really the combination of all of the above
Brand Layers. A brand is both your presentation and
public's perception of your business. It's the way that
people think about your business, and it is shaped through
all of the layers described above.

Once you've established your brand and started putting your
Brand Basics before the public eye, there are some other
branding issues you should consider:

- Brand Alignment is the biggest challenge in building a
brand comes from creating alignment across all of the Brand
Layers described above, and in creating that same alignment
between your audience and your message: making sure that
the message that you're presenting is the same message that
your customers and contacts are walking away with.

- Brand Management is the process of managing all of the
Brand Layers and achieving or maintaining Brand Alignment.
It is a constant process; you should check up on your Brand
Layers and Brand Alignment from time to time.

When all of your Brand Layers are working together, you'll
have a strong Brand that will help your business to grow
and prosper.

----------------------------------------------------
Erin Ferree is a brand identity designer who creates big
visibility for small businesses. As the owner of elf
design, Erin is passionate about helping her clients stand
out in front of their competition and attract more clients.
Her "Define Your Difference Branding Workbook" will help
you with your brand definition - the most important step in
the logo design process.
http://www.elf-design.com/products-define.html